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Professional ways of concrete sawing and drilling are prevalent in countries like USA, Japan, Australia and Europe. In India, it is still a young but growing industry. Because of an increased shelling out for infrastructure projects and residential & commercial construction, India holds tremendous potential with regards to diamond tools and concrete sawing and drilling.

Another critical factor inducing the adoption of such sophisticated methods is definitely the constantly rising labour costs. Within the last decade, concrete and construction industry has experienced sharp increases in labor rates and overhead expenses. Given the high labor and overhead costs involved with most sawing and Core cutting machine, the rate which the position is done has become vital. Using outdated cutting &drilling techniques and drilling equipment that heavily depends on guessing and operator testing only bring about waste of time and money. Today, so that you can remain competitive, the contractors are under pressure to embrace more sophisticated methods of concrete sawing & drilling.

“The marketplace for floor saws, wall saws and powered drilling machines happen to be in a nascent stage today but growing at about 40% each year as the expense of labor rises, the application of machines to speed up work and increase productivity and quality of work boosts phenomenally. Presently about 600 machines Floor Saws, Wall Saws and Powered Drilling Machines are in operation. Low Powered Handheld Drilling and sawing are in many thousands which is hard to give even an approximate number.” – M.Venkatesh, Executive Director, Diabu Diamond Tools

There are hardly any organized players from the core cutting arena. Many of them are extensions of worldwide manufacturers such as Hilti, TYROLIT, Husqvarna and Diabu. As in almost every other industry, the industry is flooded with Chinese equipment and fly by night traders who sell low priced, inferior machines from China with the objective of making quick money. These machines, however, have zero post sales support nor will be the machines suited and made to function in the Indian environment. Mr. Akhil Jain, authorized and exclusive distributor of Husqvarna’s power tools in India says, “Users with low budget prefer to get inferior Chinese makes only wind up spending more about repairs.”

When it comes to manufacturing facilities in India, only about 25% are produced indigenously, the rest imported along with the bulk coming from China. Hilti which acquired Bhukhanvala Diamond Systems during 2010 is employing it as its manufacturing facility to increase develop and expand the development facility for diamond tools and disks as well as to strengthen its position in the Indian diamond consumables market.

“HILTI was the pioneer in introducing diamond coring technology in India. Over the past maybe five or ten years, the technology has matured to some stage where even on residential sites, coring may be the preferred technology for fast, vibration-free penetrations. Right now we see the market for coring at over 50 crores.” Shyam Raghunandan, Head Marketing, Hilti India

Manval Goel, Business Head – Construction at TYROLIT India Superabrasives Tools believes the current market size of controlled concrete dismantling in India is near INR 120 crores. This includes branded and unbranded market also. TYROLIT has an array of core cutting electric, hydraulic and petrol driven machines. TYROLIT’s machines are capable of doing drilling as much as 1000 mm diameters. Its Ultimate Drilling Machine (UDM) can be a self-propelled gasoline driven transformer core cutting machine highly suitable for drilling at runways. TYROLIT has 27 Global Production Units and its core cutting machines and drills are created in Switzerland, Austria, United statesA. as well as other parts around the world. These appliances feature a manufacturing warranty of twelve months. Also these are generally quite sturdy machines and require suprisingly low mainte-nance. TYROLIT’s Unique Service Concept provides some of the service requirement at site to deal with emergency Breakdowns.

Diabu Machines has entered the Indian market. Designed bearing in mind the Indian working conditions as well as the Indian operator, Diabu’s floor saws, wall saws and drilling machines are constructed about the platform of robust, rigid and high productivity. Diabu uses high quality and right configuration steel, long life and maintenance free bearings, dust and water protected motors, bearings and all sliding and rotating parts. Most if not all fasteners are manufactured from either stainless steel or rust proof and high tensile steel. Aside from being user-friendly, maintenance can also be very simple with very easy to access grease and oil points.

“There is actually a significant desire for education about controlled dismantling as a technology from the construction industry. Other challenges connect with acceptability and adaptability of your technology in several of the major projects, drilling and sawing vis-à-vis the conventional chisel and hammer, economics linked to the technology because this is expensive, application with illiterate labor and localized availability of the technology.”

Choosing the right blade (for your saw, the information and the job) is the most essential aspect in getting maximum performance. A number of other variables also affect blade performance. Changing any variable can have an impact on cutting speed and blade life.

Concrete cutting becoming an application oriented process, blades are supplied based on end application requirement and job site requirements. The primary concrete cutting tools which can be utilized add the wall (or track) saw, the flat (or slab) saw, the core drill, and also the wire saw. Wall sawing is generally specified to reduce precise dimensional door, vent and window openings. Straight and also bevel cuts are possible together with the wall saw. The wall saw is also an outstanding selection for creating precise openings in almost any concrete structure. Flat sawing is normally utilized to cut horizontal flat surfaces such as floors, bridge decks, and pavement. Flat saws are usually employed to provide expansion joints, remove damaged pavement sections, neat and repair random cracks dexqpky76 repair, and remove concrete sections for demolition purposes. Core drilling techniques are being used when precise, circular cuts are essential like openings for plumbing, electrical and HVAC installations, creating holes for routing cables or placing anchoring bolts, installing load carrying devices or dowel bars, or perhaps for concrete sample analysis. Wire sawing can be used as removing of thick sections of concrete. It is great for removing large parts of heavily reinforced concrete, such as piers, towers and bridge sections, and cutting concrete in places that work space is fixed.

Most of the decision of cutting wet or dry depends on ones preferences and job requirements. While most sawing or drilling is wet, conditions including water scarcity in sites, requirement to maintain the site clean water/slurry on account of proximity with existing office/ factory /commercial/residential space, proximity to electrical or some other such dangerous areas may warrant dry cutting. However, cautions Mr.Venkatesh of Diabu, “If the cutting is dry it is usually preferable to use saws which are laser welded or atleast have special reinforced brazing. Using such blades be sure that the very high heat generated during dry cutting fails to damage the blade which might also cause injury and cause accidents.”

Apart from the form of cutting and dry or wet cutting, types of concrete also influence the choice in choosing a blade. The size of curing time after concrete flows greatly affects the way a diamond blade will connect to it during cutting. Curing may be afflicted with weather (temperature, moisture and time of year) along with the composition (admixtures, aggregate and sand). Cured concrete is generally set no less than 48 hrs. The sand is completely bonded together with the mortar and also the concrete reaches full hardness. Concrete is generally in its green state for 6 to 48 hours after it is actually poured. With this early state, the sand is not really completely bonded with the mortar and the concrete doesn’t reach full hardness. When cutting green concrete, the sand loosens more readily, and flows more freely inside the slurry, and produces far more abrasion with a diamond blade. Undercut protection is vital when cutting green concrete in order to avoid excessive wear in the steel core at the segment weld. Green concrete sawing is typical when taking care of new construction projects for example; motorways, runways, driveways & industrial flooring.

Both the size and kind of aggregate have got a great influence on the entire hardness of concrete and the blade to pick. The aggregate could make up as much as 75% from the total volume. Typically, larger aggregate tends to make your concrete act harder, slowing drilling process. Smaller aggregates tend to make a blade cut faster. Sand is part of the aggregate mix, and determines the abrasiveness of concrete. “Small aggregate” is usually sand. Sand either can be sharp (abrasive) or round (non-abrasive). To determine the sharpness of sand, you must know the location where the sand is from. Crushed sand and bank sand are usually sharp; river sand is normally round.

Choice for core drilling operation will also requires understanding the diameter in the final hole required, surface finish from the drilled hole, surface and accessibility of your drilling area.

“Tool horsepower, tool reliability and simplicity of use can also be necessary for selecting the right tool”, adds Mr. Shyam Raghunandan of Hilti, India.

Manav Goel, of TYROLIT summarizes, “Overall, factors like diameter in the core, length of the core, power and speed of motor, percentage reinforcement, grade of concrete, horizontal or vertical drilling, Silicon steel core cutting machine, anchor or vacuum fixation assist in deciding which concrete core cutter to use for the project.”

Conventional concrete cutting and drilling methods generated considerable amounts of dust. While wet cutting or drilling operation will not generate dust because it uses water, the instance of dust is almost totally avoided. However, the slurry generated needs to be cleaned regularly. For dry cutting, most manufacturers have dust extraction systems as accessories.

Aside from saw speed, the ease of transport and installation is needed in jobsites which have single doors or window openings to be reduce or where the saw has to be constantly moved from a floor to the next. Some machines are employed in a modular system thus attracting certain advantages, because the single component could be easier transported and installed.

With regards to costs, this equipment is not very expensive machines and in case regularly maintained, the cost of maintenance can be kept only any machine an annual spend of around 6% – 10% of the price of the equipment.

The buzz is clearly lighter, lesser, faster plus more profitable. But what comes with this development is a stronger demand that operators be trained effectively. Also, contractors must be made aware or there has to be experts who can recommend the best techniques and equipment for efficient and cost-effective cutting at any stage of your project.

“On the service front, Prime Technologies carries a band of service engineers that are always roaming and actively engage themselves in providing solutions and technical advice to clients. Also, they are involved in training the dealers and customers’ maintenance personnel. They perform an important role within the daily operation in our company. “Akhil Jain, CEO, Prime Technologies.